Improvement in refining sugars



A. F. W. PARTZ. Improvement in Refining Sugar.

'Patented Apm 25,1871.

QS @gdm/f@ idtiidr iirr anni diffus Letters Patent No. 114,192, dated Aprilj 25, 1871; antedated April 22, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT y IN REFlNlNG SUGARS.

The Schedule referred t' in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST F. W. PARTZ, of Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of Galifornia, have invented certain Improvements in the Rening of Sugar; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the molding, draining, and drying of sugar in process of rening; and

Its nature consists in the employment of large stationary molds incased in vessels wherein water or air can be heated and held at certain temperatures, in expediting the drainage of' the sirup by atmospheric pressure in a manner easy of regulation, and in dry-L ing the sugar by compressed heated air introduced at the bottom ofthe molds and forced through the crystallized sugar.

My invention also embraces a certain device hereinafter described for the removal'of the sugar from the molds after the completion of the process, together with certain mechanical arrangements for the proper conduction andv control of the operationin its various stages.

The following is a description of the apparatus which I employ, reference being. had to the accompanying drawing, which represents a vertical section of the same.

A is asheet-iron cone, and

v B 'a cylinder ol the same material. Both are tighly riveted together at their upper edges, while their lower edges are riveted to the cast-iron bed-plate a.

'i is a cylindrical ange which is cast upon the bedplate-a, and upon which is screwed the circular bottom piece e.

Yc care conical iron plugs provided with handles, by means of which they are screwed into four equidistant holes inthe circular depression of the bed-plate a. Directly below these holes there are also four holes in the bottom piece e large enough to admit of the plugs c being drawn through them, and which, after the removal of the said plugs, may be closed up by four plugs, like that represented by z, being screwed into them.

Attached to the circular flange t, and opening into the chamber a i e, are two pipes, b and p.

The pipe b connects with one end of' a Worm, n, which is inclosed in an iron vessel, D, while the other end, 11.',ofthe said worm" communicates with a pump adapted to the production of a continuous current of compressed air.

h h' are pipes by means ot' which steam may be passed through theA vessel D.

lThe pipe p connects with a cylindrical vessel, E, to which is attached another pipe, u,which communicates with a pump or some other contrivance suited for the exhaustion of air.

c is a valv\e which can be so adjusted by means of a weight, movable upon the lever l, that it admits air into the vessel E as soon as a certain degree of exhaustion of the air therein is exceeded.

y is a glass tube to indicate the height of aliquid contained in the `vessel E.

g is a stop-cock or faucet.

mis a coil of pipe through which steam may be conducted.

o is apipe which can be closed by a stop-coclgand through which the space A B a may be-filled with or emptied of water.

q isa cylindrical vessel intended for indicating the height of the said'water, which rises into it through the pipe s, and also to serve as a convenient means of' measuring its temperature by the introduction of a thermometer.

The pipe 'r is for the purpose of allowing the air to escape while the water is rising in A B a.

C is au open cylinder made of wood or some other suitable material. It surrounds the cylinder B, leaving a space between, and upon it lies a sheet-iron cover, la.

t is a-rod slightly tapering downward, upon the lower end of which is screwed the castdron piece x, which rests upon a conical elevation in the center of the bedplate a.

Its upper end forms an eye and is vheld in place by a rod, w, so bent as to form two prongs, the hooked ends of which rest upon the rim of the vessel A4,.

while a hook at the junction of the prongs catches in the said eye.

The operation is as follows: i

The space A B et is to about two-thirds of its height filled with water, which, by means of steam passed through the coil m. isheated to about 160o Fahrenheit.

The cover k is removedV and the vessel A a is filled with boiled sugar as it comes from the vacuum-pan. The cover being replaced, the sugar is left to set for about twenty-four hours, during which time the temperature of the water surrounding the mold A a is gradually lowered to about 120o Fahrenheit.

rlhe mold is thenv uncovered, the pronged rod w is taken oh, the glutinous substance named sclimearf which has collected en top of the no w solidified sugar is removed, the surface ofthe sugar is brushed"7 and leveled, and the cover is replaced, whereupon the plugs c are taken out and the plugs z screwed into the bot tom piece e, so that the siru p draining from the sugar may .dow throng the holes in which the plugs c were inserted, and the pipe p into the vessel E, from which 1 it is discharged through the faucet g.

When the sirup has ceased to tlowofreely the faucet g is closed, and, by means of the exhaust-pump connected with thepipe u, air is drawnfrom the vessel E until the atmospheric pressure upon the cont tents ofthe vessel A a, amounts to from two to five Thus the [low ofthe sirup is expedited; but as, at this A stageof the operation, the sugar in the lower part of the mold may not yet be iirm enough to withstand more than a moderate pressnre,'some of it might be forced out with the sirup if the exhaustion ofthe air should be carried too far.

Atterseveralhours, a concentrated solution of white sugar, termed liquor, is poured upon the molded sugar, allowir'; for each one thousand pounds of the latter from threeto four gallons of liquor, drawing more airY from the vessel E the Yatmosph eric pressure is gradually increased v.a lfew pounds per square inch.

When most ofthe liquor has passed through into the vessel E, carrying with it part of the brown sirup yet remaining in the sugar, an equal quantity of liquor as before is poured upon it, and some more air is drawn from the vessel E.

This operation is yet repeated once, twice, according tothe higher or lower under treatment. poured on .the temperature of the water surrounding the vessel A a is raised again to from 150o to 160o Fahrenheit, where it is keptto the end of the process.

While the last liquor is passing through the sugar, air is continually drawn from the vessel E tc form and keep up as complete a vacuum as the apparatus will or thrice,

v permit, until air enters the said vessel through the pump is yet Worked for sugar, whereupon the exhaustabout an hour, the air drawn through the sugar being previously heated while passing between the cylinders B and C, as indicated by arrows.

The drainin ofthe sugar heinfr thus practically g D b completed, it now remains to be dried. To-this end the stop-cock inserted in the pipe p is closed, the cover k is removed, escape steam is passed .through the vessel D, and the compression-pump connected with the upper end n of the worm n isset to work. Thus a currentof air, which is heated inpassing through the said worm, isforced by wayof the pipe b, the chamber ai c, and thel holes in which the plugs c were inserted, into and through the molded sugar, ally taking npand carryiug' \vith. it retained in the crystalline mass.

If the pump is of suiiicient capacity, having acylinder of from eight to ten inches in diameter, and is bi'iskly worked,`the drying of the sugar may-in this manner be effected in a few hours.

Upon the' completion of this operation the hoistingchain of a crane is fastened to the eye at the upper end ofthe rod t, and the whole mass of sugar (which according to the scale adopted in the accompanying drawing will weigh about four thousand tive hundred pounds) is lift-ed from its mold and swung upon a platform. The piece x is then screwedoli the rodjt and the latter is drawn out,'whereupon the. sugaris sawed into pieces or broken up.

v linstead of water, air may be heated in the' space A B a surrounding the vessel A a, although in that'cas'e the requisite temperatures will be more dicult to all moistureyet maintain.

Instead of placing the velvet upon the vessel E, it may to the same purpose be attached to either of the pipes p and u.

Instead of using two sel'narate pumps for the eX- haustion `and the compression of air, one pump,'if

and by grade of the sugar Before, however, the last liquor is graduit,.nor that of extracting .A a, surrounded by a suitahlyconstruct'ed, may be made to answer both purposes in away that will readily suggest itself to any practical machinist. In order to facilitate the breaking up of thesugar, its mass may .at once be partially divided by the ver-y tical suspe'nsiou of some sheets of metal in the mold A a prior 4to the casting of the sugar.l

The process above described aims at the saving Aof and Third, it accomplishes iria few days what now re'- A quires a couple of weeks. Besides, the removal ofthe brown sirup is effected with far less white liquor proportionately than must now be used, and the crystallization ofthe sugar is more perfect on account of the higher temperature at which it-takes place.`

l do not claim, broadly, the mode of drying sugar by means of air or heated air forced or drawn through sirup or other 'liquids from porous substances by means of atmospheric pressure caused by the exhaustion of air, as those parts of my process have been practiced heretofore.

lVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

l. The process substantially as herein described of molding, draining, and drying vboiled sugar iu large masses.

2, The apparatus herein described for executing the above-claimed process, consisting principally cfa mold, case, B a, and provided with a chamber, a i e, underneath its bottom, which chamber v communicates by means of a pipe, ba, with a compression-pump, and by means of another pipe, p, with areceiving-vessel, E, which connects withfan exhaust pump, all so combined and arranged as to operate sub-l stantially as set forth.

3. The incasing-vessel B a, in connection with the mold A a, substantially specified.

4. In combination with the ing--vessel E, when provided with a valve, c, for .limit ing adjustably the --degree of exhaustion, arranged to operate substantially as hereindescribed.

5. In combination with kthe mold A a,'the; {rod t,

mold A @,'the receiv' provided at its vupper end vwith-an eye or hook an its lower end with the nut or flange x, or some equiv-: substantially as and for the purpose here? alent device, in set forth. .Y

6. fn combination with the mold A' a, the piece e, provided with apertures through v.which plugs c may be inserted in and withdrawn `from respective holes in the bottom of" the saidfm'o'l y which apertures, after the removal 'of thesard: plugs,

or someeqniv can be tightly closed by plugs like z,

aient means, substantially as and for :the purpose herein specified. v

7. The cylinder C, in combination with the cover k and the mold A a, substantially as `and for the purpose herein described. l

8. The vessel q and the pipes s'and r, or their equivalents, in combination with the vessel B a, substantially as and for the purpose herein, set forth.

. AUGUST F. W. `PAR/FZ.

Witnesses: Y

'JoH'nr L. Booxu, 1 Guo. H. STRONG.

temperatures requisite for its 'draining and drying;

as and for. thelpurpos'e herein- 

